NL Playoff Racing: The National League presents the most exciting season-ending four-game stretch I can remember. The NL West is raging. The NL East is up for grabs, with the Mets on the verge of an epic collapse to rival Philadelphia. The NL Central is no gimme (but with the Cubs in the lead, you never know). And the Wild Card looks like it won't come down to Game 162 on Sunday, but probably a playoff Monday.

Mets collapse continues: Only 1 game in front of the Phillies. Four games to play, and it's too close to call. (If you're not a Mets or Phillies fan, you've got to be rooting for the one-game playoff.)

Phillies win: Behind...Kyle Lohse?! OK, let's give him the MLB Stud of the Day award. What an unlikely September hero.

NL West is best: If this situation was happening in the AL East, people would be freaking out and saying "Best Division Race Ever!" The division is up-for-grabs, and the Wild Card is too.

The surging Rockies have won 10 straight, including last night. (Josh Fogg is the hero.) The Padres won last night, and the D'backs lost, putting San Diego only 1 GB Arizona -- and 1 game ahead of Philly and Colorado in the Wild Card race.

Meanwhile, the Rox have one game left against the Dodgers tonight -- then three at home against the D'backs to end the season.

(San Diego finishes with four games at Milwaukee, with the Brewers still playing for the NL Central title, only 2 GB the Cubs, who finish with three games at Cincy after one more at Florida tonight.)

Yankees clinch a playoff berth: 13th straight, but that's not the point. Think back a few months to when the Yankees were absolutely reeling. Most fans had gleefully written them off. And, yet, here they are: Back in the playoffs... again.

Bonds 756 Ball: The fans have spoken and the ball will be branded with an asterisk then sent to the Hall of Fame. I think that any self-proclaimed "purist" who voted for the asterisk loses their "Purist Club Membership." But I also appreciate the asterisk as a symbol of an era in baseball that should be marked, no pun intended. I wish it wasn't on the ball, but I'm nothing if not a fan of letting fans decide. 81 percent of fans wanted to see the ball in the Hall of Fame, one way or the other.

Bonds' final game in San Francisco: Sounds like the crowd was appropriately appreciative – and I'm sure Bonds was too.

Now, here's the natural intrigue: Next season, when Bonds comes to town with another team, will Giants fans cheer or boo?

Vick tests positive for marijuana: Just when you thought the story couldn't get any more effed up... there you go. Let's see: House arrest until he stands trial? Sure! Additional suspension time from the NFL? Why not! It's not like he'll ever play again anyway. At least, NOW he won't.

Mike Winters is the new Joey Crawford: For being a complete d'bag to baseball's biggest nutjob player, ump Winters was suspended for the rest of the season (which means how he acted was probably WAY worse than what anyone in the public really knows).

US Women's Soccer controversy! Coach Greg Ryan benches Hope Solo for Briana Scurry. Here's the problem: Solo is a total hottie – by far my favorite on the team. (I'm not saying to play her only because she's hot. I'm just saying that she's my favorite on the team.) By the time most of you read this, the US semi vs. Brazil will be over and we'll know whether this was a smart tactical move – or (if a loss) worth firing Ryan over.

UPDATE: US routed by Brazil, 4-0. Ouch. Yikes. Even Dwight from The Office in those hilarious ads can't help them now.

Shawn Marion wants to be traded: The question is: Can Marion be anywhere near as effective without playing alongside the best point guard in the NBA? I think he merely needs to play with a GOOD PG to continue to be one of the weirdest matchups in the NBA. And if he can get himself into the East, he could maintain his status as a Top 20 player.

More NBA: The league hired an ex-ref to monitor refs, an obvious move (almost as obvious as firing Jackson and Nunn, who ran the refs before). I wouldn't have hired an ex-ref: I would have hired a quant expert from Vegas' top sportsbook.

Roy Tarpley is suing the NBA and Mavericks, claiming they violated the Americans with Disabilities Act when they wouldn't reinstate him. His disability? Being a recovering drug and alcohol abuser. He doesn't want to play (he's 42) but is looking to restore his reputation. Feels a little late in the game for that. (But, then again, isn't it quaint to remember that players used to be banned for drug and alcohol abuse, rather than, say, gambling on games or killing dogs?)

PED Watch: Of the huge DEA steroids bust from earlier this week, the craziest detail (via the NYT) was that a bunch of dealers were peddling PEDs on MySpace... to the children! (Obligatory Helen Lovejoy quote: "Won't anyone please THINK of the children!")

Beckham Watch: David's dad had a heart attack and Beckham flew back to England to be with him. Here's hoping for a full and complete recovery.

Wait: Where's the NFL news? We've already covered Rex Grossman ad nauseum. Interesting tidbit at the top of Pro Football Talk this morning: Is Reggie Bush overrated? (Or, more precisely, is he not nearly as good as he is popular?) It all comes down to how creatively they can use him, because he's simply not an every-down running back (like, say, Adrian Peterson).

One interesting point made in the PFT item was that it might impact the draft status of West Virginia's Bush-like junior RB Steve Slaton. Possibly. I have been pushing Florida soph Percy Harvin as the next coming of Bush, because of his insane speed, YAC creativity and versatility.

But where Harvin will have an easier time proving NFL value and worth is that he's a wide receiver who happens to sometimes get the ball in the backfield, rather than Bush, who is a running back who happens to sometimes line up at wide receiver.

Tebow Watch: Was I so crazy to rank Tim Tebow as my Heisman front-runner as of this week? Was I so crazy to devote the lead of my Deadspin guest-post to him? Well, Pete Thamel (the best college football reporter in the country) has Tebow ranked No. 1 right now, with an inspired pick of Andre Woodson at No. 2. Here's the link.

Regarding FSU's latest incident of misbehavior by its athletes--I'm sure the Ol' Ball Coach (that's Steve Spurrier to you!) will have a few choice words on the subject! (All time best was the "Free Shoes University" crack over some freebie sneakers for a couple of football players!!)

Wow, a post full of inanities. Hope should play becuase she is hot? That is truly pathetic, and I would think many women would be mad to read that. Glee over the FSU academic scandal? I am sure your Gators are clean in that regard...not! Plus, how does it feel to be soe wroing about the Bradley incident? I seem to remember some very harsh words towards him right after the incident, even though I had already heard these "new" facts, and I do not even follow sports as a profession.Let's see, something positive...The Reggie Bush piece. Yes, he is over-rated. Who would you take now, Dan? Bush or Williams? It now seems liek a no-brainer to me, and the Texans got killed over it for over a year.

marion was good before nash even arrived in phoenix. look at his stats dan. i can see his point that he's arguably the sun's best player, but he's overshadowed by amare and nash and idiots see his numbers as success in a system. but at the same time, YOU MAKE 17 MILLION DOLLARS A SEASON, shut up and play

I am with sean...don't think Bonds will get a chance to play in SF again. He will DH somewhere and unless he gets lucky with the interleague sched, he won't see McCovey Cove again. Saying that I think the SF fans would cheer him.

Ugh, sad to see the Tigers eliminated from the playoffs. I guess with all the injuries they have had it just wasn't going to be their year. Just seems like not too long ago they were sweeping the Red Sox heading into the All Star break and everyone on the planet was declaring them the best team.

I know that Boxing is not on the radar of this blog, but I wanted to say good luck to Kelly "The Ghost" Pavlik of Youngstown, OH on his earned championship fight this weekend with Jermaine Taylor. To see some real boxing and no dancing, watch HBO Saturday Night. GO KELLY!

I however have been a Yankee fan since I was a little kid. Strange how I resigned myself earlier this year to thinking I would have to root for the Mets in the postseason. Yanks have clinched and the Mets are on the verge of an epic collapse. If they simply went 1-6 against the Phils in their last 7 games, they would have a 3 game lead with 4 to play - but they didn't. Really insane but after the makeup with the Cards, they play 3 against the Marlins.

We all know who is winning the rookie, MVP and Cy Young awards in the AL this year. Who is manager of the year?

I haven't posted in a while, but all the negative FSU comments got me 'fired up' like Vick on House arrest. First, way to bring back old quotes from Spurrier that have NO relevance now, 15 years later. Second, nowhere does it say the 2 dozen athletes were football players. Not all the students even had scholarships (I believe all football players get scholarships if they are not on the practice squad). So why does everyone just assume that its the football players? Swimmers can't cheat? Doesn't FSU football players have enough problems with an inept QB, players getting arrested, and a head coach that demands a nap every day? GIVE THE KIDS A BREAK, YOU WANT TO TALK TRASH, TELL ME, IM A 28 YEAR OLD MAN. LEAVE THE KIDS ALONE.

I'll have a really hard time rooting for Cleveland, or in general Ohio based teams. Cavs knocked the Pistons out of the playoffs, Tribe kinda owned the Tigers this year, OSU owning Michigan lately... ugh.

Although I do usually resort to rooting for the division when the home team is eliminated.

I'll pull the east coast bias out -- how about Francona OR Torre? Why should they be hurt in the voting, just because their team didn't have a disaster '06 on the heels of a good '05? (well, RSN might consider '06 a disaster).

But the Tribe was really good in '05, then sucked ass last year, and so now that they're good again, Wedge automatically gets to win? That seems inappropriate, unless he can get some sort of "negative" award for 2006.

Cmon Dan how can you proclaim to love the gators and not pick a gator as your favorite player on the womens team. there should be no question that your fav player is Abby Wambach. She scores all our goals it seems at times and sure she isn't the hottest but from what I heard in school she was among the nicest athletes on campus.

FSU I cant wait to go to that game just to see how much crap we give Felony State. Still I think the best nickname is not Free Shoes U but what my dad calls them - Female State University. Then again he is old school and thinks it should have never become coed.

I know first hand that UF isn't any more clean academically that pretty much any other school. I used to write papers for people in college and I know I wrote at least two papers for two football players who coincidentally paid me in pot. granted both those players were kicked off the team the following semester for failing drug tests. Outside of the ivy leagues and maybe duke, vandy, and stanford, how many programs can truly say that academics come first.

NL West is best: If this situation was happening in the AL East, people would be freaking out and saying "Best Division Race Ever!"

Ummmm...let's see, three highly flawed teams all struggling to hit the lofty 90 win plateau with the division leader having given up more runs than they have scored during the season? Ummmmm...no. When the injury of a chump such as Milton Bradley is the deciding factor in a pennant race, all you have is a weak division....and don't get me started about the NL Central.

wow, kris seems to have caught the "mike gundyitis" virus that is going around.....don't take it out on the kids? for cheating?...jeez..most of these "kids" are young men and women who are married, have kids etc.....and FSU's track record is not what i would call squeaky clean...oh yeah one more thing..for the prudes...gimme a break....hotness is and should always be a a fair game topic in this blog..keep it up Dan!!!

ftrain, Free country, feel free to cheer on any team you like. When I have absolutely no rooting interest based upon conference, division, players or coaches that I like, I tend to root for the underdog.

Most sports fans I know will root for the underdog in a game they don't really care about. Honestly, rooting for any team is kind of an arbitrary thing to begin with. If I don't really care who wins an event, it makes a game less interesting so instead of the old coin toss, I choose the underdog.

Brian, what about the fact that Francona and Torre have payrolls that are double and triple that of the Indians? A lot easier to be manager of the year when you can replace a big free agent bust like Pavano with Roger Clemens.

Even if CC or Fausto had clearly better numbers than Beckett, they wouldn't win because of the "Yankees/Red Sox and No One Else Matters" attitude of the East Coast media.How about in 1995 when Mo Vaughn won MVP even though Albert Belle had 50 homers and 50 doubles for a team that went 100-44? Worst example of East Coast bias ever. AB got the last laugh when the Tribe swept the Sox in the playoffs, with Mo putting up a big 0-fer.

Hey Jonathan, Yes, both Delmond Young for ROY and Sabathia for CY are very good choices. However, here are 2 factors to think about;

1. Becket had a freak trip to the DL that cost him innings pitched. It's not like he's a 6 inning pitcher. Even with the trip to the DL, Becket's had 2 more wins in 4 less starts than Double C.

2. Dustin Pedroia for ROY because he's done his work under the microscope in Boston in the midst of a pennant race while, by May 1st ,most of Boston was screaming for him to be benched in favor of Alex Cora. Delmond Young has been playing under absolutely no pressure at all this season.

Hey Boomhauertjs; WAKE UP!! CC and Camrona did not have better seasons than Becket all at. Look at the numbers in CMFost's post again. The reason Bell didn't win the MVP in 1995 was the the writers just didn't want to vote for a corked-batted steriod enraged punk bitch thug felon. Joey was perhaps the biggest piece of shit to put on a MLB uniform in the last 50 years.

Seriously. Do most people really remember who won the NL MVP in 1997 and talk about it for years? What about the rookie of the year? There is no more worthless award.

The same goes for football and basketball. When we talk players. Be it Bonds, Jordan, Marino, Gwynn, Ripkin, Barkley, Maddux, etc. Does the common fan even mention his awards? Mo they mention championships, great games, great highlights. ARod has won the AL MVP twice (and will win his 3rd this year) but really does he need those awards to supplement his career? What about Jordan? You think those MVP awards mean shit? No…In fact to even mention that Jordan was a 6 time MVP would almost stupify the damn argument. The guy was better than the MVP Award.

Yes, now for a guy like Doug Drabek or Pat Hentgen they mean a lot. But do you think their careers are remembered because of it? No.

I'll remember Hentgen for his terrible ALCS start and then coming back and having a great WS start in 1993.

How about Manny Acta for Manager of the Year. If it worked for Girardi last year -- just beating expectations?

The Nationals won their 72nd game last night (about 33 more than Dan predicted in his preseason blog). The winning pitcher last night is 5-3, with an ERA of almost 7. They won more games than last year, without Soriano, Vidro, Livan Hernandez, Nick Johnson, or Jose Guillen.

And, freakishly: They have won 5 of their last 6 against the Mets and are 9-9 overall against them. The only reason the NL East race is so close is the Nationals play the top to contenders in their final 13 games (so far 1-3 against Philly with 3 to go and 5-1 against the Mets)

How does east coast bias work in this case? The awards are voted on by 2 writers from each city in the league. So zero from Bristol, CT....and only 2 from Boston and 2 from New York. and 2 from Cleveland.

I thought Joeybert shoulda won in 1995, and it definitely helped that Mo Vaughn was a good guy instead of a prick. But hey, Ted Williams lost tons of MVPs that way, too.

Finally, 2nd basemen aren't usually 25-80 guys. Does that mean they can NEVER win the rookie of the year against a corner outfielder?

I think postseason experience is overrated. Guys who have been major league pitchers for years don't forget how to pitch in the playoffs. They may be a little more excited or nervous but that can work in your favor as well as against.

It really is a wide open year in MLB this year. Even though the AL is set, I have no idea who is the favorite. All 4 teams have been good but all have weaknesses as well. And with 4 games left, we still have no idea who is in the playoffs in the NL. The Mets collapse is historic unless they can win 3 of the next 4 games.

Yes, top 25 college polls, and the endless drivel/arguments that insue.

I could understand your argument if it focused on single game awards (superbowl, all star game, etc). Maybe even for series awards Conference finals MVP, Semifinal MVP)

End of FULL season awards are important, however. Recognizing individual accomplishments over an entire season?

Your bitterness must stem from being the runner up for 'Employee of the Month'

I can understand if you don't like college football, there are some people that don't get it. That is fine because it is a flawed system. Flawed system or not college football ranking do determine will win the National Championship.

Awards in any sport theses days are all statistically based awards. If we were to replay the 1988 NL MVP today who would win Kirk Gibson? Probably notit would have probably gone to Will Clark.

My point is at the end of the day, when a player I like or someone on a team I like wins an major award, I['m not buying a Tshirt, celebrating on a message board, throwing it in my friends faces to the point of being annoying.

Why? Because they're really not important to many people.

As for the runner up in the employee of teh month. Sadly I am my office's version of the Buffalo Bills, thus the reason for my anger towards player awards.

cmfrost, postseason experience is overrated. It hasn't done the Yankees much good the last few years. Give me two pitchers who are at their best going into the postseason over a guy who could have a "blister problem" at any time and two guys who have been up-and-down all season.

I do like college football, very much. I just think that the ranking arguments are silly.

My point is at the end of the day, when a player I like or someone on a team I like wins an major award, I['m not buying a Tshirt, celebrating on a message board, throwing it in my friends faces to the point of being annoying.

Why? Because they're really not important to many people.

I understand your point and halfway agree. By that logic awards should go away entirely. Nobel Prize, Emmys, Grammys, Oscars, Time Person of the Year, Miss Universe, Adult Video Awards, Blog of the Year, Hottest Blogger etc. (Yes, i just strengthened your point)

Single game or series based awards are overkill. Season based awards are well deserved.

you guys are idiots if you think playoff experience is meaningless. With experience you know how to deal with the pressures of the playoffs. CC and Carmona have never pitched in a big game and that will be shown when the yankees run all over them.`

I love the way the Red Sox fan is so confident in the Yankees jumping all over Cleveland pitching. Despite a 6-0 record this year, I as a Yankee fan am not as confident. Yankee pitching is really shaky at best. They win when they get to a starter and pile on 4 or 5 runs in a big inning. They lead the league in offense but that is only half the game.

Interestingly enough, the leaders in runs scored for MLB are among the top teams in playoff spots or contending - moreso than ERA for some reason this year. Toronto had a great team ERA and is nowhere near being a contender.

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DanShanoff.com is a sports-blog spin-off of my long-time ESPN.com column, "The Daily Quickie." Anchored by an early-morning post of must-know topics, the blog is updated frequently throughout the day with new posts and user comments.